Hapsash and the Coloured Coat

What the hell is this? Thumping screeching jamming with drums and guitars and piano, like we’ve all done late at night bombed out of our nuts in a living room. Except these wackos released it on vinyl. They sound like a bunch of rich kids who could hardly play any instruments got into a studio did a bunch of drugs and banged and strummed and whooped. They hoot “H-O-P-P Why?”

I don’t know if Michael English and Nigel Waymouth were rich but the rest of my presumptions hold. They were actually founders of a design company called Hapsash and the Coloured Coat that created spectacular iconic psychedelic posters for many British groups like Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, and Spooky Tooth. They put out what has become one of the most collectible albums from the psychedelic era: Hapsash and the Coloured Coat Featuring The Human Host and The Heavy Metal Kids. The Heavy Metal Kids were the musicians who went on to form Spooky Tooth.

Waymouth continued as Hapsash and recorded a second album called Western Flyer which was produced by the brilliant and sophisticated Mike Batt. It also has become a consummate collector’s item. It was at least as wacky and sloppy as the first Hapsash album. The great slide guitarist, T. S. McPhee (later the leader of the Groundhogs) noodles away on his strings, clearly saying with each note, “Well, at least I’ll get paid (I hope).”